


Too Little, Too Late

by Reis_Asher



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Bittersweet, Depressing, Deviant Connor, Gen, M/M, Sad, Suicide, Tearjerker, can be read as friends or father/son, connor takes care of sumo, hank's suicide, hankcon if you really really squint, hostile hank, sumo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 07:03:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15600903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reis_Asher/pseuds/Reis_Asher
Summary: Connor going deviant is too little, too late for Hank, who's already decided that Connor is nothing more than a machine and has lost his faith in Connor's capacity to display empathy. Connor arrives to try and prevent Hank from taking his own life, but with nothing he can do or say to change his mind, he leaves Hank to decide his own fate.Connor returns the morning after the deviant uprising to say goodbye to his friend, and ends up taking on one more task to prove his humanity to Hank beyond the grave.





	Too Little, Too Late

**Author's Note:**

> I'm feeling depressed today, so sad HankCon it is. I'm sure this idea's been done, but I was struggling to get in the mood to write my longer works and ended up coming up with this.

"I've called the pound. They're on their way." Ben Collins turned to Chris as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. Connor overheard him from the end of the yard, wondering if he should cross the police line. He'd called in Hank's suicide before going to CyberLife Tower, but the police had been so inundated with calls about deviants, they'd left the scene until morning. They'd had to prioritize the living over the dead.

Connor had returned, despite the fact Markus needed him the morning after the revolution and it was risky to put his deviant self out there in the world while their victory was still so tentative. He'd been hoping he'd come here to find Hank still alive, that somehow, his shot had missed and Connor would find the man passed out at his kitchen table, merely drunk. 

Just surviving CyberLife Tower had involved beating impossible odds, and as he suspected, he hadn't gotten lucky a second time.

Connor had managed to find himself, but it had come too late to prove to Hank that humanity meant something to him. Every word that came out of his mouth fell on ears that had closed themselves to the sound of his voice. Hank was a man who valued actions, and every action Connor had taken had only showed him that he was nothing more than a machine.

He'd thought about telling Hank he'd gone deviant, but he'd known it was all too little, too late.

All he had left now were regrets. He'd told Hank that he couldn't turn back time and that he needed to learn to live again, but it was hollow advice when all he wanted to do was roll back the clock. He'd have saved Hank on the rooftop and let Rupert go. He'd have handed the gun back to Kamski and walked away. Bought Hank another drink. Snatched the gun from his hands and embraced the man instead—

Sumo whined, trying to follow his master as the stretcher with Hank's body on it was wheeled outside. Connor crossed the police line and hesitated by the gurney, considering the implications of lifting the sheet to take one last look at Hank's face.

"I wouldn't look, Connor," Ben said. "You don't wanna see, I promise. I'll never be able to forget."

"I failed him," Connor said. "I prioritized my mission over human life, and by the time I realized I'd made the wrong choice, it was too late to convince Hank that he mattered to me."

"Don't give yourself all the credit, son. Hank had a lot of personal issues."

"I know about Cole," Connor explained. "I saw the photo in his kitchen." Ben gave him a knowing nod.

Sumo struggled in Chris's grip and broke free, bounding off the front porch and down to where Connor stood. He looked up at the gurney and whined, and Connor felt everything all at once, his newly accepted deviancy overwhelming him with emotions he now understood as grief and sadness. He reached his hand out, awkwardly petting the dog as he had the night he'd come to Hank's house to find him passed out on the floor.

He wished he understood humans better. Hank had been such a tough nut to crack. He'd let himself be deflected by the man's external shields, and by the time he'd seen Hank's loyal, sweet, honorable soul and understood what he truly wanted was for Connor to become human, his own inner conflict had consumed him to the point he'd been too afraid to show his growing deviancy. He'd shot Kamski's android as some sort of last-ditch effort to prove to himself he wasn't a deviant.

He'd killed two people with his denial, and it would haunt him forever. He could still see Hank standing outside Kamski's place before he'd driven away and left Connor to find his own way back. He'd never forget the heartbreak in those bright blue eyes.

_"I thought you—"_

That was the moment Connor had truly understood what Hank had needed from him, but no amount of course correction had been enough to save their relationship at that point. He'd barely been able to save himself.

Sumo barked as Hank's body was taken away and he padded towards the ambulance as if he could follow Hank to the grave. Connor grabbed his collar to hold him back.

"Sit, Sumo," Connor said, and to his surprise, the dog obeyed his command. He remembered Hank telling Sumo to attack and a brief smile crossed his face. He'd been slightly leery of the huge dog at first, but just like Hank, appearances were deceptive. He buried his face in Sumo's fur. He smelled like a mixture of wet dog and Hank. Humans probably would have found that unpleasant, but to Connor it was a good reminder. Even though their relationship had been troubled and tense, Hank had made him question everything. Hank was the reason he was standing here as a free man. Connor wished more than anything he'd been able to return the favor.

"He's going to the pound, Connor. Nobody here can keep him. They'll probably euthanize such a large dog," Ben explained.

Connor had an apartment. It wasn't much, just a plain box CyberLife had assigned him while he worked on the case, but it was somewhere he could take Sumo for now. He couldn't let the city take the last piece of Hank he had left. He found himself researching how to take care of dogs, and he found there were no obstacles that couldn't be overcome. He could take dog food and a leash from the house, and perhaps walk the dog at the park close to his apartment.

It was too late to save his partner, but he could take care of Hank's most loyal friend, and in doing so, perhaps preserve some small piece of the man while displaying the kind of humanity Hank had needed to see in him.

It was what Hank would have wanted, so Connor wanted it too.


End file.
